Grinder-feeding system

ABSTRACT

A grinder-feeding system including a log aligning device comprising a log-feeding box adapted to receive logs, and a conveyor including at least two power-driven upwardly sloping chains carrying a plurality of transverse cross pieces for receiving the logs from the feeding box and aligning such logs as they are moved up the slope by the chains. A butting wall is mounted parallel to the chains and on one side of the conveyor, and spiral rolls synchronized with the chains are mounted between each pair of chains for pushing the logs against the butting wall.

[4 1 Feb. 1, 1972 United States Patent Bilocq ......143/49 RBilocq......................................198/24 [54] GRINDER-FEEDINGSYSTEM 3,040,861 6/l962 Bilocq. 3,279,582 l0/l966 [72] Inventor. giggle:A. Bllocq, Plessisville, Quebec, 3,310,080 3/1967 Delceuurm 3,417,854l2/l968 [73] Assignee: Forano Limited,

Plessisville, Quebec,

Primary ExaminerRichard E. Aegerter Attorney-Raymond A. Robic Canada[22] Filed: Dec. 24, 1970 1 pp ABSTRACT A grinder-feeding systemincluding a log aligning device comprising a log-feeding box adapted toreceive logs, and a conveyor including at least two power-drivenupwardly sloping chains carrying a plurality of transverse cross piecesfor receiving the logs from the feeding box and aligning such logs asthey are moved up the slope by the chains. A butting wall is mountedparallel to the chains and on one side of the conveyor, and spiral rollssynchronized with the chains are [56] Reerem cued mounted between eachpair of chains for pushing the logs UNITED STATES PATENTS against thebutting Wall- 2,608,288 8/1952 Talbot 13 Claims, 5 Drawing FiguresPATENTED FEB 1 1972 SHEEY 2 0? 2 INVENTUR Georges A. BILOCQ GRINDER-FEEDING SYSTEM This invention relates to a grinder-feeding systemand more particularly to a device for aligning logs prior to theirclassification before feeding them to a grinder.

Various devices have been proposed in the prior art for aligning andclassifying logs. Examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat.No. 3,279,582 issued Oct. 18, 1966 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,511,356 issuedMay 12, 1970, to the same applicant as the present application. However,the prior art devices require plural operations for performingclassification of the logs and for feeding them to the grinders, andsuch operations call for a number of men.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a log aligning andclassifying device permitting the use of only one man to take over allthe operations and also permitting to centralize all the operations in avery small confined space.

The object of the invention is realized in providing a new log aligningdevice which comprises a log-feeding box adapted to receive logs and aconveyor including at least two powerdriven upwardly sloping chainscarrying a plurality of transverse crosspieces for receiving the logsfrom the feeding box and aligning said logs while they are moved up theslope by the chains. A butting wall is mounted parallel to the chainsand on one side of the conveyor, and a spiral roll synchronized with thechains and mounted between each pair of chains is provided for pushingthe logs against the butting wall.

The above-mentioned cross pieces may be separate pieces attached to eachchain or single crosspieces attached to each of the chains.

The slope of the chains and the height of the crosspieces are related tothe height of the maximum diameter of the logs so as to prevent rollingback of the large diameter logs.

The spiral rolls may consist of a smooth roll which protrudes slightlyabove the chain level in order to take off the weight of the log fromthe chains so that the logs can be moved sideways against the buttingwall through the revolving action of the spiral rolls. The smooth rollshave a spiral ridge welded thereon and the pitch of the spiral ridge isexactly the same as the distance between two adjacent crosspieces. Inaddition, the highest point of the spiral ridge at the top of the rollcenter is slightly in front of the crosspieces for catching protrudingknots in the logs to easily move such logs against the butting wall.

The grinder-feeding system further comprises a log classifying deviceincluding a first log ejector located at the top of the chain conveyoron one side thereof, a conveyor chute located at the other side of thechain conveyor, and means for detecting any logs which are longer thanthe predetermined value and for actuating the ejector to direct the longlogs to the conveyor chute.

The grinder-feeding system may further comprise a spiral roll aligningconveyor located at the output of the chain conveyor for receiving thelogs which have gone passed the abovementioned ejector, an additionallog ejector located on one side of the spiral roll aligning conveyor, anadditional conveyor chute located at the other side of the aligningconveyor, and means for detecting any logs which are larger in diameterthan a predetermined value and for actuating said additional ejector todirect the large diameter logs to the additional conveyor chute.

Finally, an additional conveyor may be located at the output of theabove-mentioned chain conveyor or spiral roll aligning conveyor forcarrying the logs to grinder magazines which may be located eitherunderneath the conveyors or on one side thereof. in the latter case,ejectors are provided for directing the logs to the grinder magazines.

The invention will now be disclosed with reference to preferredembodiments thereof and to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a plan view of a log-aligning device or ranged tofeed logs shorter than a predetermined length to grinder magazines;

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of the device of FlG. 1;

FlG. 3 illustrates in an enlarged view a portion of the conveyor part ofthe log aligning device;

FIG. 4 illustrates a plan view of a second embodiment of a log aligningand classifying device in accordance with the invention; and

H6. 5 illustrates a side view of the device illustrated in FIG. 4.

Referring to H68. 1 and 2, there is shown diagrammatically alog-aligning device formed generally of a log-feeding box 10 and anupwardly sloped conveyor 11 forming a V capable of accumulating logs andhereinafter designated pocket." The conveyor 11 includes three chains 12which are driven in the direction of arrow 13 by means of upper gears 14mounted on a single shaft 15 driven by motor 16 through a speed reducerl7 and a sprocket chain 18. The shaft 14 is rotatable mounted on asupporting structure 20 which also supports motor 16 and speed reducer17. The lower end of each chain is passed around a gear 22 which isrotatably mounted on a supporting structure 24.

Between each chain 12 is positioned a roll 26, each roll being rotatablymounted on supporting structure 20 and 24 and being driven insynchronism with the gears through bevel gear 27 and shafts 28 and 30which are coupled by universal joint 32.

To each chain is secured a number of uniformly spaced crosspieces 34arranged in such a way that the crosspieces of each chain are aligned soas to align the logs as they are moved up the slope by the chainconveyor. Of course, the crosspieces in each row could be formed of asingle piece attached to all the chains. The crosspieces can be made ofstandard structural angle plates or of inverted V-shaped plates.

The height of the crosspieces is related to the height of the maximumdiameter of the logs in order to prevent rolling back of the largediameter logs.

A butting wall 36 is provided on one side of the chain conveyor forstopping the logs which are moved sideways with respect to the chainconveyor under the revolving action of the rolls 26.

The rolls 26 are smooth rolls the surface of which protrudes slightlyabove the chain level (for example one quarter to three-eighths of aninch) in order to take off the weight of the logs from the chains so thelogs can be moved sideways against the butting wall 36 through therevolving action of the rolls.

Each roll carries a spiral ridge 38 welded to the smooth surfacethereof. The pitch of the spiral ridge is exactly the same as thedistance between the crosspieces 34. The use of the spiral ridge is totake care of logs having protruding knots or loops which are caught bythe spirals and moved easily against the butting wall 36. The spiralrolls 26 are synchronized with the chains 12, as mentioned previously,and the highest point of the spiral ridges 38 at the top of the rollcenter should have a slight advance (approximately half an inch) infront of the crosspieces as indicated more clearly in FIG. 3.

For feeding the logs to the chain-feeding box, there is provided aconventional conveyor including a number of spiked rolls 40 illustratedin dotted lines because this does not form part of the presentinvention. The logs fed to the spiked roll conveyor hit a bumper wall 42supported by structure 24 and fall on a sloping platform 44 of thefeeding box which directs the logs onto the chain conveyor.

The log aligning device so far described operates as follows:

The logs originating from the spiked roll conveyor fall into the feedingbox and accumulate in the pocket formed by the lower portion of thechain conveyor and the bottom of the box. The logs are picked up by thecrosspieces 34 of the chain conveyor and are moved up the slope. Theinclination of the chain conveyor and the position of the crosspieces 34force the logs to align themselves at with their travel motion.

While the logs are moving up the slope. the rotation of rolls 26 pushesthem against butting well an. The logs having protruding knots or loopswhich render them more difficult to move sideways are caught by thespiral ridges passing underneath the logs resting on the crosspieces andare easily moved against the butting wall 36.

At the top of the chain conveyor, the logs which are too long cut aphotocell beam 46 or operate a pressure-sensitive mushroom mechanicaldetector 47. For a foolproof operation, both types of detectors could beused. The logs which are too long are detected by the detector 46 or 47(or both) and such detector will operate a log ejector 48 which ismounted on the supporting structure 20. The log ejector 48 will directthe long logs to a conveyor chute 50 thus preventing such logs fromcausing a jam in the grinder magazines. The log ejector could be similarto the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,040,861 issued June 26, 1962 tothe same assignee as the present application. Such an ejector is air orhydraulically operated by a pressurized air or fluid stored in areservoir 52 and fed to the ejector through control valves 54 and 56.

The logs which are of normal size fall onto a belt conveyor 57. Whenthey pass in front of ejector 58 mounted on a supporting structure 59,they are detected and pushed towards metering gates 60 which are placedright above the grinder magazines. Such metering gates and grindermagazines may be the ones disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,417,854 issuedDec. 24, 1969 to the same assignee as the present application. Theejector 58 is identical to ejector 48 and may be operated by controlvalves 64 and 66 from pressurized in reservoir 62.

Referring now to H68. 4 and 5, there is shown the same aligning deviceas the one illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3 and the elements of such aligningdevice are identified by the same reference numerals. In this secondembodiment, the belt conveyor of FIGS. 1 and 2 is replaced by a spiralroll aligning conveyor such as the one disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,279,582 issued Oct. l8, 1966, to the same assignee as the presentapplication. The conveyor includes longitudinal rolls 70 carrying spiralridges 72 simultaneously rotated by a motor 74 through a speed reducerand sprocket chains 78 passing around sprockets 80. The longitudinalrolls 70 are of course joumaled in suitable bearings (not shown) in thestructure of the apparatus.

The rotation of rolls 70 moves the logs against a movable wall in theform of a belt 81 driven by motor 82 through speed reducer 84 andsprocket chain 86.

The spiral roll aligning conveyor carries the logs to an ejector 88 ofthe same type as the one described above and supported on a structure90. The ejector 88 is a air or hydraulic device the air or fluid ofwhich flows from reservoir 92 through control valves 94 and 96.

The grinder feeding system disclosed in FIGS. 4 and S operates asfollows:

The logs originating from the feeding box (not shown) are moved up'bythe chain conveyor in front of the first ejector 48. The ejector 48 isprovided with the above-described detectors 46 and 47 for detecting thelogs which are too long. Such logs are pushed down the chute 50. Theejector 48 is also provided with a detector 98 for detecting the overdiameter logs, and a control circuit of any conventional type is locatedin the energizing circuit of ejector 48 for preventing energization ofthe ejector when a long log is also too large in diameter.

The over diameter logs passing by the second ejector 88 are detected bya suitable detector 100. The ejector is then operated and the overdiameter logs are ejected through chute 102 for splitting before goingto chippers.

The logs which are not too long or too big are subsequently picked up bya feed conveyor 103 for feeding them to the grinders. Of course, anytype of conveyors may be used but the one illustrated comprises twochains having angle attachments 104 secured thereto for moving the logsin parallel relationship over a plate 105 placed under the conveyor.

Grinder magazines, such as the one represented by reference numeral 106are positioned underneath the feed conveyors. The opening of the grindermagazines is closed by a sliding door 108 which is opened when it isdesired to drop logs in the magazine associated therewith. The entranceof such logs into the grinders is controlled by metering gates I 10.Such metering gates may be of the type disclosed in US. Pat. No.3417,854 issued Dec. 24, 1968 to the same assignee as the presentapplication. Of course, other types of feed conveyors could be used andthe grinder magazines could be positioned on one side of the conveyorwith a suitable ejector on the other side for pushing the logs into thedesired magazines such as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings.

Although the invention has been disclosed with reference to preferredembodiments thereof, it is to be understood that various modificationscould be made to the above-disclosed systems without departing from thescope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A grinder-feeding system including an aligning device comprising:

a. a log-feeding box adapted to receive log;

b. a conveyor including at least two power-driven upwardly slopingchains carrying a plurality of transverse crosspieces for receiving thelogs from the feeding box and aligning said logs while they are moved upthe slope by the chains;

c. a butting wall mounted parallel to said chains and on one side ofsaid conveyor; and

d. a spiral roll synchronized with said chains and mounted between eachpair of chains for pushing said logs against said butting wall.

2. A grinder-feeding system as defined in claim 1, wherein saidcrosspieces are separate pieces attached to each chain.

3. A grinder-feeding system as defined in claim 1, wherein saidcrosspieces consist each of a single piece attached to each of thechains.

4. A grinder-feeding system as defined in claim I, wherein the slope ofthe chains and the height of the crosspieces are related to the heightof the maximum diameter of the logs in order to prevent rolling back ofthe large diameter logs.

5. A grinder-feeding system as defined in claim 1, wherein thecrosspieces are made of structural angle plates.

6. A grinder-feeding system as defined in claim 1, wherein thecrosspieces are made of inverted V-shaped formed plates.

7. A grinder-feeding system as defined in claim 1, wherein each spiralroll consists of a smooth roll protruding slightly above the chain levelin order to take off the weight of the logs from the chains so that thelogs can be moved sideways against the butting wall through therevolving action of the rolls, and a spiral ridge welded to each smoothroll.

8. A grinder-feeding system as defined in claim 7, wherein the pitch ofthe spiral ridge is exactly the same as the distance between twoadjacent crosspieces, and wherein the highest point of the spiral at thetop of the roll center is slightly in front of the crosspieces forcatching protruding knots in the logs to easily move such logs.

9. A grinder-feeding system as defined in claim I, further comprising aspiked roll conveyor for feeding the logs to said feeding box.

10. A grinder-feeding system as defined in claim 1, further comprising afirst log ejector located at the top of the chain conveyor on one sidethereof, a first conveyor chute located on the other side of said chainconveyor, and means for detecting any logs which are longer than apredetermined value and for actuating said first ejector to direct thelong logs to the first conveyor chute.

11. A grinder-feeding system as defined in claim 10, further comprisinga belt conveyor located at the output of said chain conveyor, a secondejector located on one side of said belt conveyor, a grinder meteringgate located on the other side of the belt conveyor, and means forenergizing said second ejector to direct said logs toward said meteringgates.

12. A grinder-feeding system as defined in claim 10, further comprisinga spiral roll aligning conveyor located at the output of said chainconveyor for receiving the logs which have gone passed the firstejector, a second log ejector located on one side of said spiral rollaligning conveyor, a second conveyor chute located on the other side ofsaid spiral roll aligning conveyor, and means for detecting any logswhich are larger in diameter than a predetermined value and foractuating said second ejector to direct the large diameter logs to thesecond conveyor chute.

13. A grinderfeeding system as defined in claim 12, further comprising afeed conveyor located at the output of said spiral roll aligningconveyor, grinder magazines located underneath said feed conveyor, andmeans including metering gates for dropping logs in said grindermagazines. 5

1. A grinder-feeding system including an aligning device comprising: a.a log-feeding box adapted to receive log; b. a conveyor including atleast two power-driven upwardly sloping chains carrying a plurality oftransverse crosspieces for receiving the logs from the feeding box andaligning said logs while they are moved up the slope by the chains; c. abutting wall mounted parallel to said chains and on one side of saidconveyor; and d. a spiral roll synchronized with said chains and mountedbetween each pair of chains for pushing said logs against said buttingwall.
 2. A grinder-feeding system as defined in claim 1, wherein saidcrosspieces are separate pieces attached to each chain.
 3. Agrinder-feeding system as defined in claim 1, wherein said crosspiecesconsist each of a single piece attached to each of the chains.
 4. Agrinder-feeding system as defined in claim 1, wherein the slope of thechains and the height of the crosspieces are related to the height ofthe maximum diameter of the logs in order to prevent rolling back of thelarge diameter logs.
 5. A grinder-feeding system as defined in claim 1,wherein the crosspieces are made of structural angle plates.
 6. Agrinder-feeding system as defined in claim 1, wherein the crosspiecesare made of inverted V-shaped formed plates.
 7. A grinder-feeding systemas defined in claim 1, wherein each spiral roll consists of a smoothroll protruding slightly above the chain level in order to take off theweight of the logs from the chains so that the logs can be movedsideways against the butting wall tHrough the revolving action of therolls, and a spiral ridge welded to each smooth roll.
 8. Agrinder-feeding system as defined in claim 7, wherein the pitch of thespiral ridge is exactly the same as the distance between two adjacentcrosspieces, and wherein the highest point of the spiral at the top ofthe roll center is slightly in front of the crosspieces for catchingprotruding knots in the logs to easily move such logs.
 9. Agrinder-feeding system as defined in claim 1, further comprising aspiked roll conveyor for feeding the logs to said feeding box.
 10. Agrinder-feeding system as defined in claim 1, further comprising a firstlog ejector located at the top of the chain conveyor on one sidethereof, a first conveyor chute located on the other side of said chainconveyor, and means for detecting any logs which are longer than apredetermined value and for actuating said first ejector to direct thelong logs to the first conveyor chute.
 11. A grinder-feeding system asdefined in claim 10, further comprising a belt conveyor located at theoutput of said chain conveyor, a second ejector located on one side ofsaid belt conveyor, a grinder metering gate located on the other side ofthe belt conveyor, and means for energizing said second ejector todirect said logs toward said metering gates.
 12. A grinder-feedingsystem as defined in claim 10, further comprising a spiral roll aligningconveyor located at the output of said chain conveyor for receiving thelogs which have gone passed the first ejector, a second log ejectorlocated on one side of said spiral roll aligning conveyor, a secondconveyor chute located on the other side of said spiral roll aligningconveyor, and means for detecting any logs which are larger in diameterthan a predetermined value and for actuating said second ejector todirect the large diameter logs to the second conveyor chute.
 13. Agrinder-feeding system as defined in claim 12, further comprising a feedconveyor located at the output of said spiral roll aligning conveyor,grinder magazines located underneath said feed conveyor, and meansincluding metering gates for dropping logs in said grinder magazines.